Greatest Olympians

Jesse Owens is considered to be one of the greatest Olympians

Beijing 2008 will prove a test for thecreamof the world's sporting talent but will any of the athletes be able to go beyondmere victoryandattain greatness?

Here are some Olympic legends that set thebenchmarkby which future Olympic hopefuls must be measured.

Britain's Sir Steve Redgrave is the only athlete to win a gold medal at fiveconsecutiveOlympic Games from Los Angeles in 1984 to Sydney in 2000. As arowerhe pushed himself to hisphysical limitsand even defied his doctors by continuing to compete at the highest level after beingdiagnosedwithdiabetes.

In a TV interview immediately after finishing the race in which he won his last gold medal, anexhaustedRedgrave memorably invited the public to "shoothim" if they ever saw him in a rowing boat again.

American Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics in 1936, setting a 20-yearworld recordin the process. He alsomade a mockeryof thedistorted racial theoriesof the GermanNaziparty which was in power at the time by proving a black athlete could be as good as, or better than, a white one.

But what of China? Who are their great Olympians?

Probably the most recentcontenderfor the position of China's greatest Olympic athlete is Liu Xiang, the 110mhurdler.

Liu Xiang took gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics,tyingfor a world record time of 12.91 seconds. It was China's first Olympic gold medal intrack and fieldfor a male athlete.

Will Liu Xiang win a second gold medal? Will other Chinese athletestaste glory? The answers will be revealed in August in Beijing.